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Kirton said that would cost in the tens of thousands: "Five figures, not six figures."

The flood of donations to Labour was more than matched by two large donations declared by National yesterday, which totalled $168,000. Those donations came from rich-lister and former owner of the National Business Review Barry Colman and manufacturing company Alpha Laboratories.

Davis said he believed Ardern had "cut-through" with women and young people, while he hoped that Kiwi blokes would relate to him.

"I'm the sort of guy that loves a beer at the RSA on a Friday, spends way too much time watching sport on the weekend when I should be mowing the lawns, and my most treasured possession is the Sky remote."

The new leadership team is taking 72 hours to assess Labour's campaign platform and decide about any major changes.

Ardern said many of Labour's ideas already resonated, but she wanted to place extra emphasis on the importance of housing, health and education to reducing inequality.

She also hinted at changes in education, and would not rule out bringing forward the party's free tertiary education policy, which is set for a staggered introduction between 2019 and 2025.